Monthly Archives: September 2012

I’m reviewing the whole series since it doesn’t seem to make sense and review each of the 4 individual chapters.

The art in this series is fantastic, like Charles Burns crossed with some Moebius but with it’s own organic style.

Despite its short length, the characters and plot are compelling, relying on recognizable archetypes and classic themes without coming off as boring or cliché. I wish it didn’t end already and hope that Ward gets a chance to revisit the series someday (maybe following Turner after the final events).

Watch this Malachi fellow, we’ll probably be seeing some big stuff from him.

Like this:

A satisfying and touching finish, despite its uneven start. This last chapter was the best, being a final adventure filled with wonderfully surreal encounters and phenomena.

Some details were probably inspired or borrowed from better-known predecessors. But like King did with The Dark Tower, they are woven together to create a new entity, unique in its own right. And Zelazny’s epic must have provided things that became the basis for many of the principles at work in Roland Deschain’s universe.

I especially enjoyed the minor confrontation with the cannibalistic little people, which seemed deliberately borrowed – and twisted – from Swift. The quote above is another bonus, a Lovecraftian description of the titular realm.

“But it has far greater depth than originally conceded by critics and readers who dismissed it as lacking substance.”

This series is deceptively clever. It is full of allusions to other literature, historical events and figures. Zelazny was having fun writing this, but he was also teasing and engaging the reader in a multifaceted discussion on the nature of identity, without dragging the plotting down.

The July edition of the New York Review of Science Fiction has an amazing essay that examines all of the brief, cryptic references and allusions. This bit of fantasy is more than just a minor sword and sorcery tale crossed with some science fiction. If you’ve finished this series (the first five), I highly recommend their article, available here